When the Cat's Dreaming, the Mice Will Hunt
by Unique-Just.Like.Everyone.Else
Summary: It's two months later, and Ariadne hasn't heard from anyone. But when she gets called out of class by a stranger & never comes back Miles contacts Dom. Arthur, Cobb, and Eames don't know who or why Ariadne is missing. It's a game of cat and mouse.


Chapter One:

Ariadne sat in the cold chair, one in many students trying to pay attention to Professor Miles lesson. He was writing on the board, turning around periodically to make eye contact with the class. He was old fashioned and the class room had a chalk board at the front. Watching as the white dust slowly rained down the board, she thought back to the snowy mountain she had been on only two months ago. In perspective, two months isn't that long of a time. For her though, it felt like forever because that was how long she had been cut off from the world of pure creation.

Her notebook lay open on the table, and when she glanced down she saw that she had unwittingly drawn a maze. That was what she did, she was the architect. She wouldn't be needed anymore though, Dom Cobb had faced his inner demons, Mal, and now he could create again. He was the best, and she was his substitute. Not that the group was staying together anyway, they got off the plane and all of them boarded separate planes, without a single look in each other's direction.

The door swung up in the back of the room and crashed into the wall because of the force. Eighty heads turned to look behind them. A man wearing a pristine black suit with a dark red tie, the color of drying blood, smiled from behind his expensive sunglasses. He brushed imaginary lint from the sleeve of his jacket before speaking, "Ah, my mistake. I need to speak with a Miss Ariadne, if I may." His voice was smooth and polite, but you could tell he wasn't asking when he requested Ariadne's council.

She pulled herself out of her seat and flipped her notebook shut; she stuffed her things into her bag quickly before slinging it over her shoulder and heading over toward the man. He motioned for her to exit ahead of him, and then he shut the door as he walked out. He glanced up and down the empty hall making sure no one was looking before pushing her against the wall, face first, and twisting her arm, "Who did you work for?" he held a gun to her back so she didn't dare scream.

Shaking her head she stuttered over your words, "I-I don't know what you mean."

The man pressed the gun harder into her back. His voice came out as an angry growl, "I know that you were part of the team who performed Inception on Fischer. Now who did you work for, and who did you work with."

Once again Ariadne shook her head defiantly, "I don't even kn- know what Inception is."

The man laughed, "Stubborn, but don't worry. You have a new employer now." Grabbing her arm, he dragged her out of the hallway and toward a white van. She was thrown in the back and felt as her head hit the side. The searing pain was that last thing that she felt before the blackness came and over took her into a dreamless state of unconsciousness.

-#**#-

Professor Miles got up from his chair quickly after the class had dispersed the next day. Hurrying into his office he unhooked the phone and dialed the number belonging to his son. He listened to the ringing before the phone was picked up.

"'Ello?" a little voice answered.

Miles smiled slightly, "James, can you please put your father on the phone?"

There was the rustling sound of hair rubbing against the receiver as the little boy nodded and then a moment of silence. "Hello?"

"Dom, it's me. I' really worried," Miles told him drumming his fingers against the desk he had seated himself at.

Dom paused, "What happened?"

Miles sighed, he'd probably get blamed for not calling sooner, "Yesterday a man came into my class, he asked to speak to Ariadne. He was dressed really nicely, and he took her out into the hallway. No one has seen her since. She knocked one of her notebooks onto the floor when she was packing her stuff to go talk to him, and I know my students. She would have come to get it from me by now; something has happened."

"Are you sure?" Dom asked his throat going slightly dry. He had gotten Ariadne into this; she was just supposed to be an architect.

Miles coughed slightly, "Yes, she's missing."

"Okay. I need to make some calls," Dom told him as a way of goodbye and then they both hung up. Sitting at the little table in his kitchen Cobb put his head into his hands. He couldn't help but to feel as though it was his fault the quick learning architect who was eager to help was missing. She had been the one to help him deal with Mal, to come up with how to save Fischer and Saito, it was her that entered the dream with the team to save Dom and the other's from himself, and now he had to save her.

If only he knew what he was saving her from.

Reaching into his pocket he withdrew a cell phone that he kept on him but he hadn't used since the end of the Inception task. It was registered under a false name, and the bill shipped to a different address, he used it to keep in touch with employers and colleagues. They were entered as the initials of their jobs rather than by their real names. _PM _was the first contact Dom called. _The point man._

"Hello?" the voice on the other line answered.

"Arthur? It's Cobb, we have a problem."

There was a sigh on the other line and then some shuffling. "What?" Arthur asked exasperated.

Cobb frowned, "Ariadne's been taken, I don't know by who, but someone found out about the Inception.

Arthur cursed lightly, "Well what do we do? If we don't know who took her, where, or why then how do we find them?"

"We got her into the mess of Extraction; we owe her as much to get her out of this." Cobb answered heading into his room to pull out a suitcase. He threw it on the bed before pausing to spin a small metal top on the table. It toppled over with a clink that he only slightly paid attention to as he slipped the gun hidden in the bottom drawer out and placed it into the bag.

Arthur sighed, "Meet you at the workshop?"

Cobb nodded, "Meet you at the workshop in three days. Oh, and Arthur, we'll find her."

"I'll see you in Paris. Goodbye, Cobb." Arthur told him hanging up.

Cobb knew that everyone in the team had started to care for Ariadne, and each other, but Ariadne was the one who still possessed naivety about the job and life as a whole. She was a good architect and had proven trustworthy and loyal. Her being taken was one of the worst hits the team could imagine, because no one ever thought she'd be the one targeted. Whether the point man said anything about it or not, Cobb could tell that he had the softest spot for the missing girl.

With a sigh Cobb dialed the next number in his phone and waited until the distinctly British voice came through the other line, "What do you want?"

Cobb almost laughed, "Eames, Ariadne is missing. Someone found out about the Inception, and they are not happy. Arthur and I are meeting in the workshop to try and track them down. I'm wondering if you would like to help."

"More of a chance to annoy that stick in the mud, I'll gladly help." Eames responded, but he could tell that he wasn't quite as happy as his voice came across. He was concerned.

Cobb nodded, "I'll meet you there in three days."

Hanging up the phone Cobb walked out to where the kids were playing in the backyard with their grandmother. Knocking on the glass door he caught her attention and motioned for her to come inside. She got up and raised a finger to the kids telling them to wait one second. "Yes?"

"I have to go to Paris, a colleague of mine has gone missing," Cobb explained his back to her as he shuffled through the papers on the table for his passport.

She huffed, "So you're just leaving the children again?"

"You don't understand. I was the one who brought her into this, and now I have to get her out." He snapped, glancing out into the yard at James and Phillipa. Their backs were turned, but this time Dom would see their faces before he left. "I'm leaving in two days. I need to get supplies gathered and people called, but I can't be sure what will happen. We don't know who or how many people we are dealing with," Dom told her voice dropping as he said this.

She sighed, "Fine Dom, go. But realize that you may be leaving these children as orphans, if you're really going into the situation that you described."

Cobb walked away toward his bedroom without a comment. Shutting the door he sat down on the bed spinning the top, again, on the nightstand.

Just to be sure.

-#**#-

In a cold warehouse the back door of a van that had been driving for a little over an hour opened and the girl laying unconscious in the back was thrown to the floor. A man motioned for one of his partners to wake her while he withdrew a accordion file from the front passenger seat. The case file held all the information on this girl and her team mates that the group needed.

"Wakey, wakey. Rise and shine, sweetheart." The man crowed gruffly in Ariadne's ear as he shook her shoulder. She grimaced as she slowly came to and his breath assaulted her.

Blinking she looked around at the slightly blurred warehouse she was sitting in. Her head throbbed with a dull repetition and the sound of a school bell echoed in her ear. She looked toward the man who had been her original assailant. Her eyes slowly adjusted and her vision cleared, making his smirk come into focus.

The man walked over to her; expensive leather shoes thudding on the ground. Motioning, he told her to get up and follow him. They reached a small room with a bed in one corner and a desk set up with paper, pencils, and other supplies needed in planning out a maze. Ariadne stumbled as she was pushed into the room.

The man walked up to her, "You can stay here and rest. I'll be back in a little while to explain what I need of you." He reached into her pocket and pulled out a golden bishop. Slipping it into his own pocket, he smiled and spoke in his misleadingly silky voice, "Ta-ta."


End file.
